National Geography Bee at CHS: Wagner's a Winner

Friday

Jan 10, 2014 at 12:25 PM

Next up for CHS eighth-grader is a written test to see if he adances to state competition

Times Report

Jacob Wagner, an eightth grade student at Crookston High School, won the school-level competition of the National Geographic Bee on Thursday. First runner-up was Merran Dingmann and second runner-up was Clair Frydenlund. Others participating were Pressley Chandler, Nathan Hesby, Jacob Davidson, Jackson Seibel, Maddie Everett, Zach Sanders and Kate MacGregor.

The school-level Bee, at which students answered oral questions on geography, was the first round in the 26th annual National Geographic Bee. This year's Bee is sponsored by Google (maps.google.com/help/maps/education/

The kickoff for this year's Bee was the week of Nov. 11, with thousands of schools around the U.S. and in the five U.S. territories participating. The school winners including Wagner will now take a written test; up to 100 of the top scorers on that test in each state will then be eligible to compete in the state Bee on April 4.

The National Geographic Society will provide an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for state champions and teacher-escorts to participate in the Bee national championship rounds May 19-21. The first -place national winner will receive a $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society, and a trip to the Galapagos Islands, courtesy of Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic.

Award-winning journalist Soledad O'Brien will moderate the national finals on May 21. The program will air on television. Check local listings for dates and times.

Everyone can test their geography knowledge with the GeoBee Challenge, an online geography quiz at nationalgeographic.com/geobee, which poses 10 new questions a day, or by downloading the National Geographic GeoBee Challenge app with more than 1,000 questions from past Bees.

The National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Its mission is to inspire people to care about the planet. Founded in 1888, the Society is member supported and offers a community for members to get closer to explorers, connect with other members and help make a difference. The Society reaches more than 450 million people worldwide each month through National Geographic and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; exhibitions; live events; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 10,000 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects and supports an education program promoting geographic literacy. For more information visit nationalgeographic.com.